Saturday, June 30, 2012

At this very moment un bal masqué in the gardens of the Château de Versailles is about to begin. Period costumes and masks are obligatory for the "Marie-Antoinette Electro" event which will last from sunset til sunrise. Smart phone photo courtesy of Pierre Lechanteux.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Friend Sylvia's smart-phone photo sent straight from the sunny south of France serves as a reminder for un truc de grand-mère: put sachets of dried lavender in the closets to chase away clothing moths.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

From simple tables in Corsica (where it's local) to the grandes tables of luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants in Paris, New York and Tokyo, the reference in natural sparkling water is the Corsican Orezza. It's refreshingly delicious--but oh, how amazingly spoiled people have become. Commercialized and sourced from an ancient thermal spring since 1856.

Vocabulary

eau gazeuse: sparkling water

gazeux, gazeuse: gaseous

pétillant, -e: sparkling, fizzy, bubbly

un rafraîchissement: a refreshment

un bar à eau: a water bar (a drinking establishment or counter that serves only water, but of a great diversity)

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Medieval gothic cathedrals' walls were not entirely white as most appear today, but were once decorated with colorful murals that harmonized with the stained glass windows. Here's an well-preserved example in the fabulous Cathédrale Saint-Etienne de Bourges.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Quite literally jailhouse rock, viewed through the double-door entrance of Honfleur's former prison,which dates to 1734. Le Vieux Honfleur, a charming and much visited port village, converted the prison into an ethnography and popular arts museum in 1896.

It's not legible in the photo, but a small note attached to the iron gate asks people not to shake it.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

A book, a bench, a tree and long soutane --may some things never change.

Twice last week I crossed the paths of Catholic priests garbed in cassocks on the streets of Versailles. A rather comforting sight, even for my non-Catholic self, and one that is more unusual than not these days.

The ankle-length garment was once everyday clerical wear here; today it is little used except for religious services.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Unusual but very practical for an economical expedition. We had to look on Google to find out more about this thrifty rolling German hotel. The Mercedes tour bus with guide is fitted out with passenger seats for sightseeing during the day and sleeping berths for the night, as well as a camping kitchen set up. The all-in-one coach and hotel firm has been in business for more than 50 years and operates in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. Das Rollende Hotel: The Rolling Hotel.

Vocabularyinsolite: unusualrouler: to rollun car: a coach or busSome French slangÇa roule?
How's it going?

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Lavender has started blooming in the south of France! Friend and smart-phone photographer Sylvia sends these powdery close-ups from her garden in the Gard.

I see lavender and think dessert--especially one that is decorated and perfumed with fresh lavender buds: une feuilleté aux abricots à la crème anglaise. A perfect marriage.

Tip: If you have a hankering to dot a crème anglaise with lavender buds, then its best to grow your own to ensure that the flowers aren't contaminated by pesticides or animal urine. Otherwise, buy organically grown culinary lavender.

Vocabulary

la lavande: lavender

un feuilleté: a flaky puff pastry

une crème anglaise: a classic dessert sauce made from a pourable vanilla custard

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Front door to a troglodyte home in the heights of the Loire Valley city of Chinon. Such subterranean limestone dwellings are fitted out either in existing caverns or in excavations, like the one featured in a very interesting video clip you can view by clicking here. The most important concentration of troglodyte dwellings in Europe are found in the Loire Valley. Très écolo and very much lived in.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A bit mud-splattered thanks to all of the rain we've been having, these trompe l'oeil works on utility boxes are even still a treat for anyone walking or biking down Boulevard de la Reine in Versailles. Painted by members of the Ecole d'Art Mural de Versailles.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Bike lanes here have dramatically improved since Versailles' bicycling and dynamic mayor, François de Mazières took office in 2008. What you see along the bike paths has, too. Ugly utility boxes throughout the town are being systematically transformed, free of charge, into trompe l'oeil works of art by the Ecole d'Art Mural de Versailles in a beautification project partnered with the mayor's office. More photos to come...

Thursday, June 7, 2012

London more London than ever, says this Eurostar urban ad campaign for passengers going to the summer Olympics in late July. And, so is Eurostar urban advertising more Eurostar than ever! Often a wee-bit naughty... Known for wacky and creative urban posters to promote the Paris to London train route, Eurostar's new campaign parodies the British pub sports of darts and snooker in the undress of antique Greek statues of victorious athletes.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Exterior restoration in progress of a transparent white and stained glass grilled window at Saint Vigor, a small royal church in Marly-le-Roi. Built from 1688-1689 at the demand of Louis XIV, it is the only rural church constructed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the king's head architect. Transparent windows provided more luminosity than did medieval stained glass windows, and thus enabled congregations to read and follow texts and psalms, which thanks to the invention of the printing press, were becoming more and more available.

Monday, June 4, 2012

I had to duck outside yesterday afternoon, interrupting my royal watching on TV, and although the weather was fine for most of the day, I noticed that not many people were out and about in Versailles. Most were probably home either following the Roland Garros play-offs or admiring the spectacular nautical parade on the Thames celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Difficult choice--the flotilla or Federer! People the world over--and the French especially so--are fascinated by and fond of Her Majesty the Queen. One cannot help but be impressed by the expression of social cohesion on such historic occasions where tradition and anachronism are contemporized.

Honnis soit qui mal y pense

Lest it be forgot, William the Conqueror was actually the Norman duke Guillaume le Conquérant, who after winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066 became the king of England. More than a third of all English words are derived from French, which for centuries was the elite language of the royal court.

Dieu et mon droit is the French devise on the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms.
And themotto of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalrly in England founded in 1348, is a Middle French expression: Honnis soit qui mal y pense. Shame upon him who thinks evil.

Vocabularyla Tamise: the River Thamesun fleuve: a riverjubiler: to exultun jubilé: a jubileejubilant: gleeful

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Gosh, I hadn't realized Mother's Day has antique origins--ancient Greek springtime celebrations honoring the mother goddess Cybele, as well as the Roman Matronalia festival for Juno. Nor had I realized that a tiny French village in the Rhônes-Alpes, Artas, touts itself as being the cradle of today's Mother's Day. It was there on June 10, 1906, that the first modern ceremonies honoring mothers took place: two mothers each having nine children received certificates designated "Haut Mérite Maternel." High Maternal Merit.

Today is lafête des mères in France. The celebration falls on the last Sunday of May, except in years when that Sunday coincides with Pentecost (Whitsunday), in which case the fête is postponed til the first Sunday in June. Pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué? Why do things simply when they can be done more complicatedly?

Freshly picked Pierre de Ronsard roses, a variety inspired by the French Renaissance poet's celebrated line "Mignonne, allons voir si la rose..." in his sonnet, Ode À Cassandre. Composed in 1545, de Ronsard's poem likens the passing of youth to the blossoming and fading of a rose. Life is short.

The ode was put to music first by Jehan Chardavoine in 1575 and became a popular song of the Renaissance. Later in that century it also inspired a polyphonic version. In the 19th century Richard Wagner while visiting Paris, set the ode to song in Mignonne, WWV57, a lied for voice and piano. In fact, throughout the centuries the sonnet has inspired a number of musical compositions, including Cécile Chaminade's (1857-1944) beautiful melody exquisitely interpreted by the confirmed countertenor star, Philippe Jaroussky.

Although the Pierre de Ronsard rose, also known as the Eden Rose, is not very fragrant, its large and heavy, cabbage-shaped double blossom begins as a light green bud that opens into an ethereal creamy, pink-tinged flower. As it ages the blossom becomes white. Disease-resistant and easy to grow, the Pierre de Ronsard can be grown as a shrub or a two-meter high climber. The variety is a hybrid developped in 1987 by Meilland Roses, a French firm. In 2006 it was voted the most popular rose in the world at an international rose convention in Osaka, Japan.

This is a rose to pick especially before it rains, like friend Sylvia did who provided the above photo, because the blossoms become too heavy with water and deteriorate rapidly.

Vocabulary

un lied: from German, a long poem sung by one voice accompanied by a piano or an instrumental ensemble; (plural form is lieder)

une mélodie: in French, a particular form of music consisting of a brief composition for voice accompanied by a piano or ensemble; similar to the German lied or art song, the English musical equivalent

Friday, June 1, 2012

Le Cottage restaurant and salon de thé in the old town center of Marly-le-Roi, near Versailles. A great place for brunch or lunch where quiche is the speciality. Lots of room for plays on words as well as a silhouette-pleasing light cheese cake. Tea cups, doilies, linen aprons and embroidered table runners galore. Très kitschissime. You'll love it. 7 bis Grande Rue, Marly-le-Roi.